


Mark of Death

by KawaiiNinja



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Depression, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-07 11:10:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21457081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KawaiiNinja/pseuds/KawaiiNinja
Summary: Sometimes, you may never realize how much someone means to you until they are gone. It's crazy how easily a lie can be taken. And that's exactly how it occurred for three particular turtle brothers.It happened in a flash. Flesh tearing through the air, Mikey's body hitting the ground, laying in a sea of blood. Eyes white and glazed, mouth agape as he gave out one last breath, followed by silence as his ending.The three brothers are stuck with such grief and despair for having lost their sunshine, and their glue. Things are never the same again without their youngest brother.It's not until the three brothers begin to hear about Tigerclaw's devious plan to resurrect the Shredder, is then that the turtles have another idea. The brothers are willing to risk anything to get Mikey back, even if it meant to defile death.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	1. Hidden Feelings

“BOOYAKASHA!” A voice hollered through the evening air. “Operation Black-Out!”

“Shut up Bonehead!”

“OW!” Mikey winced, scowling as he rubbed his head where Raph had just smacked him. “Not cool dude!”

“For the last time, Mikey, you promised that you wouldn’t goof around!” Leo hissed, clearly pissed.

“Uh, Leo,” Donnie interrupted, pointing down below where the four of them were sitting stealthily upon the balance beams in the ceiling of the building. “They’re gone.”

Leo huffed, gazing down before glaring. “Great, we just lost track of the Purple Dragons.”

“And who’s fault is that?” Raph growled, next to Mikey’s ear. The orange masked turtle flinched, muttering a “sorry, bros.” They each shook their heads in annoyance.

“All right, ninjas, we’re going to back to the Lair,” Leo ordered. The three brothers leapt off the balance beams and through the window that they had crawled into the building with. Mikey followed after them, sighing to himself.

The youngest could hear his bros muttering, mentioning his name. “I can’t believe Mikey messed up again, Leo,” Donnie huffed in irritation. “This is the eighth time he’s messed up just this week!”

“When we get back, we’re having a talk, Mikey,” Leo informed, turning his head gaze behind directly at the freckled terrapin.

“Sure, Leo…” Mikey could see the expression of disappoint on Raph’s face. He shook his head, before following his other two brothers to the nearest manhole cover. Mikey stopped, not following after them as he sighed heavily.

This feeling of dejection, depression dropped his mood suddenly. He could feel his heart twist painfully in his plastron. It hurt… it actually hurt. He didn’t want to feel this again… but the feeling was all too familiar. It was the same he felt when he run away from his bros at the Farmhouse and meet Napoleon, it was the same feeling he felt when his brothers never appreciated him. He remembered the time they called him a mess up, and this lead to Mikey always questioning his role.

Well, in fact, he’s always questioned his role of this team. Leo was the leader, Raph was the warrior, Donnie was the brains and he… he did nothing, he didn’t contribute anything to this team other than being an annoyance.

“Some ninja,” he growled, kicking his foot against the edge of a brick building. “Why do I always mess up? Why do I have to be so worthless!” He growled, throwing his nun-chuck forward, embedding the kusarigama blade in between the cracks of the brick wall.

Grunting as he realized how his blade was stuck in the wall, Mikey pressed a foot onto the bricks tugging with all his might. “Nngh!” With one fierce pull, he managed to wedge out his blade only to topple backwards at the force of the impact. This caused the freckled terrapin to fall backwards onto his shell, the blade of his nun-chuck accidentally brushing against his left wrist. The feeling of the cold tip slicing across his skin was enough to cause him to yelp loudly in pain.

His breathing was erratic for a moment, before he finally recollected his surroundings. The blade seemed to have been broken and his wrist was bleeding. As much as he hated the twinge of pain, baby blue irises were fixated upon the droplets of blood that trailed from his wrist and splattered onto the ground beneath. Below him, he noticed freckles of blood that decorated the slate-colored cement.

“Mikey!” He was soon pulled out from his trance. Craning his neck, he noticed Leo who was poking his head above the manhole cover, holding it up as he waited.

“Coming, Leo!” The youngest, shoved his nun-chuck into his hoister, immediately using his hand to cover his bleeding wrist. How could he be so careless? He had just hurt himself and now he would never hear the end of it from Leo and Donnie.

Climbing into the manhole cover, as he descended down the latter the youngest followed after his bros back toward the Lair. The freckled turtle tried to make a quick escape toward the hallway where their bedrooms were. Unfortunately, there was no getting out of Leo’s lectures as his oldest brother stepped in front of him, blocking his view.

Mikey gulped anxiously, gazing up to see Leo’s stern expression as he had his arms folded across his plastron. He knew that he meant serious business. After all, he did mess up again… so much so that it affected their patrol tonight.

“Mikey, we need to talk,” Leo enjoined, voice clearly placid, yet intrepid at the same time. “About your behavior lately.”

“I know, Leo,” Mikey spoke, biting his lip tightly as he made note to keep his left hand against his side, in hopes that Leo wouldn’t see his injury. “I messed up again… as usual…” he tried to side step his brother, only to feel to a prickling sensation of pain as Leo had grasped that particular wrist.

“Mikey-” The orange masked turtle felt his nerves levitate higher as Leo paused. Midnight blue irises gazed down, lifting up Mikey’s wrist as he turned it over. Mikey felt like he was a deer that was caught in headlights. “You’re bleeding…” Leo’s taut expression disappeared almost without a trace, seemingly replaced by concern.

“It’s nothing really, Leo,” Mikey to tried to corroborate, “just a little cut is all-”

“This doesn’t look like a normal cut, Mikey,” Leo cut him off, tugging him toward the direction of Donnie’s lab. “We’re getting this cleaned up right now.” Mikey knew then that it would be pointless to resist.

The sight of Mikey being dragged into the lab, caught Raphael’s attention as he dissed his comic book, following after them.

“Donnie,” the genius pinpointed his attention away from typing on his computer to Leo’s concerned expression, as he saw him holding out Mikey’s wrist. The sight of the deep cut that cascaded with blood that trickled off Mikey’s fingers immediately had Donnie rummaging through his cabinets for bandages and antiseptics.

“What the shell happened?” Raph questioned, leaning over as he saw Mikey who turned his head away.

“Mikey cut himself,” Leo explained. He turned to face his youngest brother whilst Donnie went to work on cleaning up his bleeding wound.

“Ow!” Mikey hissed, clenching his teeth at the sting of the alcohol swabs. “That hurts, D!”

“This is necessary, Mikey,” Donnie replied, dabbing up the blood with a cloth, before wrapping up the turtle’s wrist with a bandage. “With a deep cut like this, it could get infected.”

“Mikey, how did this happen?” Leo inquired. The freckled turtle let out a defeated sigh. He knew that it was impossible to hide any injury from his bros. They were always worried about him, but he didn’t want them to be for it was all a stupid mistake.

“Haha, funny story bro uh-“ he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly with his other good hand. “It’s kind of… my fault. I was being clumsy. I embedded my kusarigama blade into the brick wall, and thrust it out only to fall backwards and cut myself by accident.”

Raph rolled his eyes, letting out an exasperated breath. “Of course, doofus. Leave it to Mikey to get himself hurt.”

Mikey winced at that, biting his lip tightly. He stayed silent, not knowing how to respond to that. Raph was right, it was true. He always found some stupid way to get himself hurt. But even if this time was like none other… it felt different. The sting of pain, it fascinated him and even now as it throbbed dully, a thought kept nagging at him.

“You’ve got to be more careful next time, Mikey,” Donnie scowled. “You could easily get yourself critically injured one day.”

“Donnie’s right,” Leo placed a gentle hand onto Mikey’s shoulder. “You can’t keep messing up like this, Ototo.”

“Okay, okay,” Mikey pulled back, stepping away from his brothers.

“Mikey,” Leo turned around to face him, before sharing a knowing look both Donnie and Raph. “You can’t keep messing up like this. First you cause an explosion in Donnie’s lab, then you nearly crash the Shellraiser, one of your pranks went wrong, you trashed the main room with pizza, then you jeopardized our mission tonight and accidentally injure yourself. This is enough, Mikey, you can’t keep messing up especially when it begins to affect our missions, to the point that it could start to endanger us and yourself. And because you’ve been messing up too much lately, you aren’t going on patrol with us for a week.”

Everything fell silent in the lab, as Mikey swear that he could hear a pin drop hitting the floor. “Oh…” he croaked, the only sound that came from the back of his throat.

“Until you recognize the wrongs of your actions and behavior, and change,” Leo added, having noticed Mikey’s expression fall. “And stop being so immature.”

“Right….” Mikey drawled, clearing his throat awkwardly. He tried so hard to keep his tears at bay, as he could feel the stinging sensation in his eyes. “I’ll just do that.”

“Great,” Leo nodded his head smiling. Raph quickly left the lab and disappeared doing his own thing.

“Um… well I’m going to go uh…. think about what I’ve done in my room,” Mikey hastily replied, turning to face the open doorway of the lab.

“If your cut begins to swell with a bacterial infection, let me know,” Donnie called, just as Mikey had stepped foot out of the lab.

“Got it, D!” With that, he made haste toward his room. Upon closing the door, he plopped himself onto his bed finally allowing the tears to burst. Why? Why did he have to be such a mess up? And now he wouldn’t be able to go on patrol with his brothers? The fact that Leo said that he would endanger them and himself. Throwing an arm over his face, Mikey let out a sigh.

He didn’t know how long he had been laying there in his bed. Yet these dark thoughts kept plaguing his mind. All he ever did was mess up… he made everything worse even if it was never his intention in the first place.

Turning his head as he could hear whisperings from outside his room, coming from the hallway. It was his bros, they were chatting and from the tone of their voices they seemed happy.

“It’s gonna be so good to have no distractions tomorrow,” Mikey heard Raph say. The youngest could feel his heart twinge at that statement. He knew what Raph meant, he was talking about him.

The subtle feeling of pain bloomed across his wrist as Mikey brushed it against the side of his bed. For once, that pain was enthralling and left him oddly satisfied.


	2. Death

Mikey sighed, groaning as he threw his hand back in annoyance. His boredom was seriously killing him, and it obviously didn’t help when his brothers wouldn’t let him go topside. Could things get any more worse? Mikey had been stuck here for two days straight and honestly he was becoming even more depressed.

His brothers always came back from patrol, jittery and happy and laughing their shells off. Mikey couldn’t help but to feel like… maybe perhaps they were happier without him? None of them missed him out on patrol. The cut on the freckled turtle’s wrist burned underneath the bandage, as Mikey felt tears threatening to spill at the sound of his brothers laughing together.

None of them even bothered to say hi to him and headed off to their rooms for night. Of course they didn’t care… it was like he wasn’t even there.

Mikey stood, feeling a peculiar feeling wash over him. He tried so hard to do what Leo had asked of him, but it only made him feel worse… like a failure. Ever since that incident with him accidentally hurting himself, his cut had been itching several times. So much so to the point that Mikey didn’t know what happened. It was like his mind took control.

He found himself in the bathroom, unwrapping the bandage from his wrist as he gazed down at the cut that that began to scab. His fingers peeled at it, wincing at the sting of pain as he pulled off the crusty skin-like material. Blood oozed out, bright and fresh as Mikey took the blade of his kusarigama chain and in one fluid motion, he sliced another cut along his arm.

The orange masked terrapin didn’t know why, but it felt good. It was a temporary relief from the pain that he was feeling. He deserved this after all. For the next few days, Mikey dedicated himself in training harder. He would decline pizza whenever his bros brought some, and of course they questioned him the moment he said that. Mikey only shrugged his shoulders, telling them that he needed to eat healthy in order to train better.

And by the time his bros would come back from patrol Mikey would have shut himself into his room by then. He wasn’t in the mood for having any interaction with them. And they didn’t even ask about him, so why bother?

However, on the fifth day there came a knock on his door. It was Leo. “Hey, Mikey, you okay?”

The nun-chuck wielder nearly dropped his chucks in surprise. He slowly began to relax as he realized that his door was locked. If Leo came in, there was no telling what he would do at the sight of him making more cuts on his other arm. It was easy to hide with his wrappings so of course none of them knew. And Mikey was careful enough to not have them touch his arms during trainings in the morning. But when he did feel pain, he would blame it on one of his bros which only infuriated them.

“Yeah, Leo, I’m fine!” Mikey called back. “Can you please leave me be? I’m trying to meditate here, dude.”

“All right,” Leo replied. Mikey could hear whispering from both Raph and Donnie from behind the door as well. “When you’re finished with that, would you come out and watch Super Robo Mega Force with us? We’ve missed you, Mikey.”

“Sure will, dudes!” That was enough to make his bros leave his door as Mikey sighed in relief. Did they actually miss him? He chuckled bitterly at himself. Another slice against his skin, this time he didn’t even wince. The blade drew more cuts as Mikey stayed in his seated position on the floor. Why would they even miss him? They were happier without him. Why miss someone so worthless?

After spending a full five minutes, Mikey set away his blade before covering the cuts with his wrappings. He exited his room to head into the TV pit where his bros sat watching.

“Finally, was wondering when you’d show up,” Raph muttered gruffly.

“Hey, there, Mikey,” Donnie nudged his arm. Mikey flinched a bit at the flare of pain that shot up his arm. He turned his head directly toward the TV so Donnie wouldn’t see his grimace.

“So we watching Super Robo Mega Force or what?” Mikey retorted.

“Still impatient as always, Mikey,” Donnie chuckled heartily. Leo grasped the remote as he turned on the TV, putting in the CD as the show began to play. Baby blue eyes were fixated upon the screen, staying silent.

“Hey, you okay, Mikey,” he felt Donnie nudging him again. “You’re being awfully quiet.” This earned the attention of Raph and Leo, both of them turning to glance at him.

“Actually… I’m honestly tired dudes,” Mikey said, standing abruptly. He turned to leave, making a beeline for his room.

“Well that was weird… even for Mikey,” Raph folded his arms across his plastron.

“Guys, something isn’t right,” Donnie mused, a worrisome expression on his face.

“Yeah, we can ask him tomorrow,” Leo said. “But for once he’s been focusing for real during training.”

When the youngest was safely trapped inside his own room, he took off his bandana, along with his elbow and kneepads. He slipped underneath his covers as he tried to sleep. He just wanted to sleep the night away, for he didn’t care about anything else. These dark thoughts that kept swirling in his mind, he wanted to get away from it.

* * *

**THE NEXT MORNING**

* * *

Mikey didn’t realize that he had slept in, until someone came banging onto his door.

“Mikey! Get up!” Of course, it was Raph. He groaned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“I’m coming!” He hissed, pushing himself up to cover his cuts with his wrappings, putting on his pads and bandana. He opened his door, stepping foot as he made his way into the kitchen. Why couldn’t he just sleep forever and never wake up? The thought was satisfying. But no, of course he had to cook for his brothers.

But he wasn’t all that hungry, as Mikey placed the scrambled eggs on his brothers’ plates.

“Aren’t you going to eat some?” Leo asked, confused as to why the youngest wasn’t eating.

“Not that hungry, I’ll eat something else later,” was Mikey’s reply.

“Mikey,” the turtle felt a hand touch his shoulder. Lifting his gaze, that’s when he saw his three brothers giving him worried looks. “About yesterday,” the oldest started.

_Oh no.. not this again… _Mikey suddenly felt sick to his stomach, as his heart began to race in panic. He didn’t want to talk about this.

“You know that you can talk to us about anything, right?”

“I know, Leo.”

“Then can you explain why you’ve been more distant late-” the leader was cut off by a ringing noise that blared loudly. Raph yelped, grasping his T-phone as he answered it.

“Casey! What’s going on? You saw what!? Don’t worry we’ll be out there ASAP!” Raph hung up, “Casey said that he just saw Tigerclaw and Shredder’s minions out topside!”

“All right, ninjas,” Leo stated, facing Donnie and Raph as they nodded their heads in affirmation. “Looks like we have a mission to do.” The genius and hothead didn’t waste a second in nabbing their weapons. “And once we get back, Mikey. We’re going to have a talk,” Leo added before the three of them completely left the kitchen and out of the lair.

Mikey sighed, dragging a hand down the side of his face. Here he was again, all alone in the lair. Alone with his dark thoughts, alone with his demons. He left the kitchen, not wanting to bother with eating anything.

The Lair was quiet, perhaps too quiet. He didn’t know why, but he found himself in the dojo, sitting in front of what used to be Sensei’s shoji door. It had been months since Master Splinter had passed away, and the four brothers suffered a huge blow because of it.

“I’m sorry Master Splinter…” Mikey choked, clutching onto his knees. “I don’t know what to do anymore… I know you’d probably tell me how I am beneficial to this team… but for so long… I’ve always felt like a failure…” tears began to escape from his eyes. “Like I don’t belong here or anywhere for that matter… And I’m so sorry that I’ve failed you father…” By this point, he couldn’t stop the flow of tears as he let out a wretched sob. “I miss you… so much S-Sensei…”

Through his blurry vision, he gazed at the photograph of Master Splinter that stood on the shelf. The candles continued to flicker, fading in and out. Mikey stood up, wiping the tears from his eyes just as the flames dispersed.

“Huh?” he didn’t blow on the candles, and he certainly didn’t feel a gust of wind either in the dojo. As if on cue, his T-phone began to vibrate in his belt. Pulling out his phone, he answered it. “April?” He questioned, hearing her voice on the other line.

“Mikey! It’s your brothers! They’re completely surrounded by Kraang droids!” Mikey hesitated, wanting to tell April that he was forbidden from going out on patrols with his brothers. Yet, the sincerity in her voice left him only one protruding thought. His brothers were danger!

“I’ll be out there, April!” He called, hanging up. Mikey didn’t care if his bros would pissed with him showing up. But he had to, they were his brothers and they needed his help!

* * *

**MEANWHILE**

* * *

“April! Go now!” Donnie ordered the redhead. She nodded her head, running away from the fight scene. The three brothers were trying their best to fend off the Kraang droids, but there were just too many of them!

“Now what, Leo!?” Raph inquired, over the chaos of metal banging against one another.

“We need to fend them off!”

“Hate to break it to ya, Leo. But we’re outnumbered!”

“BOOYAKASHA!” That simple phrase was enough for the three brothers to recognize whom it came from. Sure enough, a kusarigama chain came flying, knocking several bots off the rooftop in the process.

“Mikey!?” Leo gasped.

“What the shell are you doing?” Raph growled, embedding a sai through another droid’s head.

“What does it look like dudes? I’m helping you out!”

“Are you that stupid? We were doing just fine without you!”

Mikey flinched at that, it took all of his willpower to not break down right then and there. It was another shot to the heart, and Mikey couldn’t describe the unbearable pain that he was feeling. No! He couldn’t!

He was tired of this, he was tired of feeling worthless. The youngest turtle had a right to aid his bros! Swinging his chains, he forced more bots down as his brothers managed to fend off the rest of them. It didn’t take long before their numbers became a few, to the point that they smashed every robot to the ground. The little brain-like aliens began to flee once they realized that they were defeated.

Mikey smirked, a smug expression on his face as he pulled his chains back to their original size. He shoved his nun-chucks into his holster, before turning around to face his bros. He expected them to thank him for saving their butts. However, that wasn’t the case.

Raph dusted off his shoulders, scowling. Donnie picked up his staff as he turned to glare at Mikey. “I thought that we agreed that you couldn’t come topside?”

“Dudes, I just saved your shells,” Mikey pointed out.

“You did save us, Mikey. And thank you for that,” he felt Leo’s hand on his right shoulder. “But we’ve got this.”

“Still hasn’t been a full week yet,” Raph added.

“But-” Mikey protested.

“No buts, little brother. You need to go back to the Lair,” Leo said, finally releasing his shoulder.

“No… I just helped you! Without me you’d guys be toast!”

“Need me to remind you that we had the situation under control?” Raph shook his head, huffing in irritation.

“Yes we were outnumbered, but we’ve faced much worse,” Donnie murmured. “Plus we still have to deal with the situation of Shredder’s henchmen roaming the city.”

“You disobeyed an order, Mikey,” Leo scowled, folding his arms across his plastron.

“But April said you guys were in danger!”

“April said what?” Donnie exasperated, only to be shushed by Leo.

“We’ll talk to April later. Mikey, go home,” Leo ordered, “now.” The three of them turned around, walking away from Mikey on the rooftop.

Mikey scowled, tears leaking down his cheeks. He shook his head, stomping his foot against the top of the roof. “No!” He choked, clenching his fists tightly. “I’m done…” he muttered, letting everything break. He was tired of being treated like nothing. And for once, he wanted to tell them everything. All the demons inside his mind, every hurtful word, every pain he felt. Even if simply existing was a burden, a pain. Mikey just wanted to scream it all out into the dark air. “I don’t want to be like this!... I don’t want to fight anymore…”

The three brothers turned around, stunned at Mikey’s sudden outburst. “Mikey?” Leo whispered, his name seemingly rolling across the cold wind.

“I don’t want to feel anymore…”

“MIKEY!” Raph screamed, as shadow passed over the orange masked turtle. Baby blue eyes gazed up before everything become a blur. It happened in a flash. Flesh tearing through the air. Excruciating pain bloomed across Mikey’s plastron. Gazing down, that’s when he saw it. Two blades protruded out from his plastron having sliced through his shell clean and out his chest.

Only gurgling sound escaped Mikey’s lip, as blood trickled out from his mouth. That’s when he met his bros’ gazes, the corner of his lips curling into a smile. For once in Mikey’s entire life, he thanked his adversary, who had quickly done the job.

“MIKEY!” The blades retreated, as Mikey’s limp body landed with a thud against the cement. He lay there is a sea of blood, eyes white and glazed whilst his mouth hung agape as he gave out his last breath.

“YOU BASTARD!” Raph roared, lunging at the wolf-mutant. His own eyes were glossed over in blind rage, as was Leo and Donnie who followed behind. Donnie threw his bo staff at Rahzar, the blade out and sharp.

“YOU KILLED MIKEY!” Donnie screeched.

Rahzar dodged their attacks, leaping back as he stood next to Fishface. “Serves that pathetic turtle.” With that, he jumped off the rooftop with Fishface and disappeared out from sight.

“YOU’LL PAY!” Raph roared over the edge, not caring if the entire city could hear him. “I WILL KILL YOU! YOU HEAR!?”

“Wait… that was Rahzar… I thought he was…” Leo muttered, only to deaf ears.

“Holy chalupa…” Donnie mumbled, “n-no… this can’t be r-real…” he sagged his knees next to Mikey’s motionless body. He rolled the turtle over, to find that his fear was confirmed. Mikey wasn’t breathing… nor was his heart beating…

Leo and Raph rushed over, the three brothers huddling around Mikey’s dead body. Raph growled, slamming his fist against the cement as he broke down, sobbing heavily. Leo did the same, holding onto Mikey’s head as he let out a scream.

The sky began to darken with ominous clouds, as rain poured from up above. Unbeknownst to the three brothers were sobbing over Mikey’s dead body. A pure soul watched them afar. Mikey smiled sadly, at the sight. He had never seen his brothers look so devastated… so broken…

He reached out toward him, but of course his hand passed through them. They couldn’t seem him… he was dead. “Don’t worry bros,” he whispered, even though he knew that they couldn’t hear him either. “Be happy. I’m a better place now.” Mikey turned, taken aback as he suddenly saw Master Splinter standing there.

“Sensei?” He gasped.

“Michelangelo, my son,” the mutant rat extended a hand toward him.

“Sensei!” Mikey cried, leaping himself at this father, hugging him tightly. “You have no idea how I’ve missed you!”

“I have missed you too, my son. Come,” Mikey pulled back as he saw blazing light ahead of them. He followed his sensei into the pure white light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dang... so Mikey is officially dead. How sad huh? I hoped you enjoyed this!


	3. Gone

The Lair was silent, too silent. None of the three brothers had uttered a word since they picked up Mikey’s dead body and brought it down. Donnie had to lay him on a clean table to wipe Mikey clean of his injuries. Next, came the embalming process. They wanted to preserve Mikey’s body the way it was, as much as possible.

Donnie’s fingers began to shake as he operated the process. Tears trickled off his cheeks, splattering onto the oil that he was trying to rub all over Mikey. Leo and Raph were standing around the table, watching with dull eyes. Their eyes were blood-shot, dark bags forming underneath.

Raph broke down, sobbing as he turned his head. Leo stared at Mikey’s body, tears trickling down his face as he cried silently. Donnie picked up the linen, gently wrapping them around Mikey’s entire body until he was completely covered.

“I’ll build the metal coffin,” Donnie sniffed, taking a step back. He placed a hand onto Mikey’s shoulder sighing sadly. “I miss you little brother…” he could hear two other choking noises, beside his own. The three of them remaining in Donnie’s lab before heading off into their rooms. None of them slept at all that night. Things would never be the same ever again.

The next few days things were far from normal. Donnie never left his lab, always working on that metal coffin. As for Leo he would always wake up, and try to make his brothers toast and it took several attempts of failure until he got it right. But other than that, they ate cold cereal. Raph wouldn’t talk, only seemingly angrier or depressed. There was no one around here that he could tease anymore, no little brother to push his buttons and lift his mood.

Leo headed into the dojo, not missing the new photo that they had put up on the shelf beside Splinter’s. It was a photo of Mikey, and another one of all of them with Mikey included. Leo sighed sadly, picking up the photo gloomily. He set the photo back before kneeling down onto the mat to try to meditate. After a full minute the leader finally gave up. He couldn’t meditate, ever since Mikey’s death it was difficult to find any peace.

None of this made any sense! Mikey was never supposed to die before them! He was too young! He still had so much life ahead of him and it was ripped like that in a split of a second. It was unfair. Leo clenched his fist, Mikey’s death, it constantly haunted him. Every time he tried to meditate he always resaw Mikey’s death flashing before his eyes. The blood spurting in the air, the way baby blue irises widened, and Mikey’s smile. Leo shivered violently, chills drilling up his arms.

His worst fear had come true. He failed his little brother… A smashing noise alerted him, causing him to jump in surprise at the sudden sound. Turning his head at the sound of cursing, and feet stomping. He knew who it was. The emerald green turtle entered the dojo, fists clenched against his sides as Leo took one good look at this face. And that’s all he needed to know. Raph’s face was completely sullen, with his composure absolutely broken. Raph choked, big fat tears rolling down his cheeks.

“I miss him Leo…” his voice cracked, heaving, whilst stomping his foot in fury. “I can’t believe I let this happen!” He slammed his fist against the side of the wall.

Leo leapt to his feet, trying to console his distraught brother. “I know Raph… we all miss him. And it’s not your fault…”

“I miss him,” Raph hiccupped, clenching a hand onto his plastron. “For once… I actually miss his annoying pranks, and his stupid stunts!...I miss him… I miss him! I want him back!”

“I know,” Leo surged forward to hug Raph tightly. He teared up heavily as Raph sobbed against him. He never honestly seen Raph like this before, but not like they were all broken anyway. It was hard to even recognize themselves and continue on living. “I miss him too, Raph… more than you can possibly imagine… he’s our little brother… and without him… nothing will ever be the same again…”

“Guys!” Donnie hollered, opening up his lab door. “I’ve finished the coffin!”

Leo pulled back, patting both of Raphael’s shoulders as he met his brother’s gaze. “Come on…” With that he walked out, Raph following suit as they made it into the lab. Sure enough, there was the metal coffin, furnished and polished like gold.

“I thought… since Mikey is like our bright ball of sunshine…” Donnie gestured toward the coffin. “That I would paint it gold to represent Mikey. Since he always had a heart of gold…” The three of them nodded sadly, gazing at the coffin.

The sound of two other voices diverted their attention to the main room. There was April and Casey who had showed up. They had heard the dreadful news and finally came a few days after for Mikey’s funeral.

April rushed up to Donnie, embracing him tightly as he let it out once more. She cried along with him, squeezing him tightly. “I’m so sorry, Donnie…” she whispered.

Casey frowned, standing beside Raph. “He truly was too young to die,” he commented, staring at Mikey’s covered body that lay on the table. He reached out to touch Mikey as did April. April turned to face the three brothers.

“So you’re ready?” she bit her lip tightly. Donnie had told her that the coffin would be complete today and she suggested that they have Mikey’s funeral today as well. And of course, they had invited everyone they knew, including the Mighty Mutanimals. Donnie nodded his head, wiping his tears as he faked a smile. April smiled sadly, squeezing her boyfriend’s arm. She knew how devastating it was to lose Splinter, but Mikey…. This was something different that broke them at the very core. With Splinter, they had each other to deal with the loss, but with Mikey gone… one of them was actually missing. And Mikey was no nobody, he was their sunshine brother.

Donnie helped Leo and Raph as they placed Mikey’s body into the coffin. April and Casey aided them so they could carry the coffin out from the lair. They had taken the long out from the sewers, and up above the ground. They guided Mikey’s coffin to the back of April’s van and hopped in. There was another truck behind them with the Mighty Mutanimals as they followed suit.

Casey drove out from the city of Manhattan New York, and toward the countryside where the farmhouse rested. It was the sacred place where Hamato Yoshi was buried, in front of that one oak tree closest to the barn. Everyone walked out, the three brothers carrying Mikey’s coffin along with Leatherhead who asked to aid them.

They traveled slowly toward the tree, as Leo stated they should bury Mikey near the single peach tree that stood behind the barn. April commented that it was the perfect spot, as peaches complimented Mikey’s innocence.

The rest of the Mighty Mutanimals, along with Karai and Shinigami followed. They stopped in front of the peach tree, as Slash lifted his mace along with a giant shovel to start digging up a giant hole. Once the hole was open and clear, Mikey’s coffin was lowered into the ground. Slash handed the shovel toward Leo.

“I assume that the three of you would like to pile in Michelangelo’s grave. Leo nodded, taking the shovel as he scooped up piles of dirt, piling it down onto Mikey’s grave. After several loads of dirt, he handed the shovel to Raph who did the same and finally Donnie. Birds chirped in the cool morning air of the woods, sounding like soft music ringing.

“The stone?” Leo turned, Leatherhead turned around grasping the said object from the back of the van and came back over holding it out. Donnie finished covering up Mikey’s grave as he stabbed the shovel behind him into the ground.

“Here it is, Leonardo,” Leatherhead handed the leader the tombstone. Leo gazed at both Raph and Donnie, sharing a glance betwixt themselves. They each put a hand onto the stone, leaning forward to shove it into the top of Mikey’s grave. Leo took out his kunai and began scrapping at the stone to engrave words upon it. He wrote: ‘Michelangelo’ at the top. Raph took the kunai, scribbling several words underneath Mikey’s full name, adding ‘(Mikey)’ and ‘The heart and sunshine of the Hamato family.’ After he was finished, Donnie finished it off by inscribing Mikey’s birth and death date.

He handed the kunai back to Leo as the three of them stood back, now gazing at Mikey’s finished grave. Everyone stood there in silence, while a cool gently breeze flew by. April leaned against’ Donnie’s shoulder, crying. Leatherhead began to sob, closing his eyes. It was the first time anyone had ever seen the crocodile mutant sob before. The others bowed their heads in grief and respect.

“He truly was an honorable ninja,” Slash commented.

“He truly saw through the heart,” Leatherhead sobbed, tears trailing down his snout. “He was my first friend who never saw me as a monster…”

“Mikey always got on my nerves, but despite that he always managed to make life bright and cheer me up…” Raph added.

“He always never ceased to amaze me,” Leo stated.

“He was the best little brother anyone could ever have…” Donnie finished. Several sniffles could be heard, and sounds of faint crying.

“He was weird at first, but then he always made me laugh,” April chuckled sadly. “I enjoyed this company.”

“He was the best ninja ever,” Casey replied as well. “He was a rad dude.”

Raph knelt down, placing a hand onto the tombstone. Leo pulled out Mikey’s bandana, it was taken off him while Donnie was embalming Mikey’s body. Donnie pulled out Mikey’s nun-chucks placing them in front of the tombstone as Leo placed Mikey’s bandana last, making sure the orange cloth wouldn’t budge from it’s spot. He placed a stone over part of it, doing the trick.

The others remained for a while, before heading off, leaving only the three brothers alone with April and Casey. April and Casey headed to the car to wait, leaving some privacy for the turtle brothers.

“M-Mikey…” Raph choked, keeping his hand on the tombstone. He sighed, allowing his tears to fall. Donnie knelt down, burying his face into his knees. Leo stared down at the tombstone, sighing. The peach tree was in full bloom, though one orangish-pink petal fell floating down to land onto the head of the tombstone.

The three brothers remained there for a while longer, crying before they finally stood up and left with April and Casey. Several peaches in the tree began to swing to the gentle breeze, several more petals floating in the wind.


	4. The Scroll

“We got these punks!”

“Are you crazy?” Raph hissed, clenching his teeth as he glared at Casey. “There’s too many!” Eyes glowed in the darkness, an ominous blue. “Evil glowing eyes, not good, Jones!” Raph snapped, twirling his sais.

“Casey Jones never runs from a fight!” Screaming could be heard in the sewers along with the sound of punches flying through the air.

* * *

**MEANWHILE**

* * *

Leo sighed, staring at the TV. He was watching his favorite show, Space Heroes. Honestly, he had admit that as much as the show made him happy, it didn’t anymore. He found that he didn’t like to do the things that he used to do. Donnie on the other hand, he barely came out of the lab, only to eat. The purple masked turtle looked like a constant zombie. Sometimes Leo heard him muttering Mikey’s name in the middle of the night, and it broke the leader’s heart. None of them were taking Mikey’s death well.

It had been an entire month, and they still weren’t faring. The sound of grunting and heavy breathing diverted Leo’s attention away from the TV. Raph and Casey stumbled into the lair, with cuts and bruises that littered their bodies.

“Raph?” Leo stood up, concern filling his dull eyes. “What happened?” He could hear the sound of the lab door opening, signifying that Donnie decided to come out for once. April had exited the kitchen, happy that Donnie decided to reveal himself.

“We were just patrolling the city, and were on our way back,” Raph rasped, trying to catch his breath. “Then we came across a crazy robed cultist-looking guy about to perform some kind of sacrifice.”

“So Casey Jones and his sidekick, Raph, gave chase,” Casey added.

“Sidekick?” Raph growled, turning around to lift a fist into the air. Casey recoiled back, holding his hands up in defense. The black-haired human had to step back. Of course, he was used to Raph’s temper, but the red masked turtle had been getting angrier more than usual since Mikey died. “We tried to corner them,” Raph continued elaborating. “But he escaped and then there were too many of them.”

“What were they?” Leo questioned, noticing Donnie walking up to stand beside him.

“Robots, mutants, kangroo men? How am I supposed to know, Leo!?” Raph snapped, his face dangerously near Leo’s.

“Calm down, Raph,” Leo took a step back, “we have to find out what they are.”

“My security sensors have been picking up more homeless people in the streets…” Donnie spoke, much to everyone’s surprise. They turned to face the genius turtle. “At least, I thought they were homeless people. But if these creatures are performing weird sacrifices, then we need to do something about it.”

“Hmmm,” April mused.

“No kidding, Brainiac,” Raph rolled his eyes, folding his arms across his plastron. “Ever since Mikey died things have never been normal. First off, Rahzar who was supposedly dead is alive and killed Mikey…” Raph growled at that said name, his eyes turning into white slits. Casey gulped, feeling the tension rising not only from Raph but also from the other turtle brothers. “And we haven’t even avenged Rahzar for what he’s done! That bastard deserves to die!”

“I agree with you, Raph. I agree,” Leo nodded his head, his midnight blues a deeper shade of blue.

“It is suspicious how he’s actually alive,” Donnie tapped his chin, thinking pensively for a moment. “He should be dead, yet he’s alive. None of this makes sense. First Rahzar’s reappearance and now these creepy creatures roaming around the city performing sacrifices.”

“Doesn’t matter, I’m gonna snap that wolf-mutant’s neck so hard that he won’t feel a thing!” Raph growled, clenching his fist.

“Okay, here’s the plan, guys,” Leo knelt down as the others followed suit. “First things first, we need to figure out why these creatures are doing these strange rituals and to find out what really happened with Rahzar.” The turtles nodded in understanding as Donnie went to fetch his security sensor in the lab.

“With this, I can track down our robed friends. If they’re in the sewers within a five-mile radius we’ll find them,” he said, pressing a button onto the device.

“All right, team, we split up and find out what they’re up to,” Leo commanded. Donnie quickly handed several other sensors to both Raph and Casey. Leo stood up, nodding at Donnie to follow him. Raph and Casey followed each other, April following suit, the five of them reentering the sewers.

“My sensor is buzzing!” Casey exclaimed, pointing down a tunnel as he walked alongside Raph. Raph nodded his head, clenching the hilt of one of his sais. He crouched down low with Casey as they came to one particular sewer tunnel.

There, the robed creatures were, murmuring and chanting some foreign language of some sort. Casey thrust out his shocker, shocking one of the creatures with electricity. Raph lunged forward, tackling another to the ground as the rest of the group turned on the two.

* * *

**MEANWHILE WITH DONNIE AND LEO**

* * *

The two of them had followed several of the robed creatures out from the sewers and into some building that was filled with books.

“Huh, they’re in a library?” Donnie whispered, as the two of them were peeking through the window. They were chanting, one of them holding up some kind of scroll.

“Mavaakaaa sekulaa nadavaaa.”

“Mavakaa sekulaa nadavaaaa.”

“Mavakaa sekulaa nadavaa-“ Donnie protruded out the blade from his bo staff, instantly shattering the window in the process.

“Donnie!” Leo cried, only to face palm as the olive-green turtle was already upon the creatures in the room. He sighed, before leaping in to dive into action.

“Ha!” Donnie grinned with triumph as he managed to rip the scroll from one of the creature’s hands. It was then, he got a good look at the deranged creature’s face. “They’re ghouls!” He gasped, only to be socked in the face as his shell slapped against a shelf of books, several of them colliding onto him.

Leo tried to snatch the scroll, realizing that these ghoul-like creatures were after something. He failed to do so, as they escaped out the broken window as the blue masked turtle growled, slamming his fist against the side of the wall. “NO!” He sighed, turning around as Donnie groaned, rubbing the side of his head. “Donnie! Are you okay?” the eldest was instantly at his side.

“I’m fine, Leo,” Donnie brushed off his hand from his shoulder.

“They were after some kind of scroll,” Leo mused, helping his younger brother up.   
“I bet it’s the Scroll of the Demodragon.”

“The what?” Leo questioned, gazing into chocolate irises. Donnie turned his head, motioning toward the stand where that one creature had held up the scroll chanting strange words. “This isn’t just an particular library, Leo. This is a penthouse, and it belongs to a wealthy collector of the weird and obscure, or you could say one who specializes in witchcraft.”

Donnie walked over to the stand, gazing around the room. Leo did the same, noticing the dome-like ceiling with glass and the hexagonal lines that were displayed all along the floor. There were such strange markings.

“The Scroll of the Demodragon,” Donnie opened up a large dusty book onto the wooden stand. He pointed a finger onto a page. “It’s an ancient evocation said to summon a powerful monster called Kavaxas.”

Leo tilted his head in confusion, “Kavaxas?”

“Kavaxas is from a mythical race called the Demodragons. They believed to reside in the Netherworld. It says that magicians have summoned them for millennia, their efforts always ending up in tragedy.” Donnie pulled out his sensor from his belt. “And with these sensors I know just exactly how he can get a lead on them.” The olive-green turtle held up his device. “There! It seems that they’re all converging to this one point.”

Leo nodded his head, pointing the sharp end of his katana at the broken window. “Then let’s go!”

* * *

**MEANWHILE**

* * *

“Ugh, what are these things anyway?” Casey grunted, rubbing his sore arm. Raph pushed himself off the ground, groaning in pain. They had barely managed to escape the group of ghouls.

“Some kind of freaky ghouls,” April rubbed her head.

Raph stood up, dusting off his knees. “Mikey would certainly come up with the best name for ‘em.” He sighed sullenly at that. And of course, Raph had to remind himself that Mikey was never coming back. No little brother to say something stupid that he could laugh at. No little brother who always managed to lift up the mood no matter what situation they were in.

“Raph?” The emerald green turtle quickly wiped away the tears that were streaming down his face. No…. not now, they had a mission to do!

“Come on,” Raph pulled out his senor tracker that Donnie had handed him. “Looks like they’re all going this way.” He rushed down the sewer tunnel along with Casey, a dark place that seemed to seemingly extend forever.

Eventually Leo and Donnie had caught up with them, and the genius filled them in about the scroll of the demodragon. It certainly sounded like these ghouls were in some sort of cult of darkness. And now they were coming upon the one spot where they all converged.

“Look!” Donnie pointed down below, as the four of them were perched at an opening that led down below. Sure enough, down below there were thousands of robed ghouls, all standing in a circle around this stairway that led to a rounded dome that was inscribed with a peculiar star-like shape. They were all chanting loudly.

“Mavaakaaa sekulaa nadavaaa.”

“Mavakaa sekulaa nadavaaaa.”

“Mavaakaaa sekulaa nadavaaa.”

“Mavakaa sekulaa nadavaaaa.”

A larger figure who was also robed, walked up the stairs, turning to face all the ghouls. He lowered his hood as the three turtles gasped.

“It’s Tigerclaw,” Leo’s eyes narrowed. “He’s the cult leader!?”

“We finally have the scroll of the Demodragon in our possession!” Tigerclaw roared, lifting his hand into the hand as he held out the scroll. “Now I will use the scroll to summon Kavaxas!”

“That’s it! We need to do something!” Raph growled.

“We need to distract him. Everyone distract him while Raph and I go after the seal,” Leo ordered. With that simple command, everyone moved. However, they didn’t notice the ghouls that were behind them and snatched them. They struggled in vain, many pairs of arms grasping them until they were dragged down to the very pit.

“My old enemies,” Tigerclaw chuckled. “Perfect. Now you shall witness.”

“Why’d you come back, Tigerclaw?” Leo snapped. “The foot are finished.”

“They are only reborn,” Tigerclaw motioned toward the ghouls. “And I see that one of you is no longer present. That little stupid, useless turtle.” Raph growled, thrashing against the ghouls that held him down. Leo glared at Tigerclaw as did Donnie, who tried his best to not let the tears escape his eyes, but was unsuccessful.

“It’s such a pity that Rahzar finished him off,” Tigerclaw laughed bitterly. “Now behold you shall witness me summoning a more powerful being, one that I shall control, Kavaxas!” Tigerclaw went to the stand, the circle around the star igniting with flames. The three turtles along with Casey and April were shoved down onto their knees.

Tigerclaw began to chant, after pressing a seal onto the stand as he held up the scroll reading the words out loud. “Mavakaa sekulaa. Mavakaa sekulaa nadavaaaa. Mavakaa sekulaa nadavaaaa. Kavaxas!” The ground began to rumble like an earthquake as fire shot out from the center of the circle, followed by lightning that cackled through the air.

A puff of green smoke filled the center, only to reveal a red demon-like dragon. “You dare call upon Kavaxas? Lord of the Demodragons. Ruler of the Netherworld!?” The dragon roared.

“Guys!” April gasped, a dreadful feeling rising into her gut. “We need to get out of here!” Casey nodded his head, before thrusting out his electric device from underneath his glove to shock one of the ghouls. Leo and Raph reacted at once, head butting their captors. They punched the ghouls, and freed Donnie as they could hear Tigerclaw talking to the dragon.

“You will do nothing but obey me!” Tigerclaw held up some sort of seal. “You will destroy those turtles and their human allies!”

“RUN!” Leo yelled over the commotion that banged around them. The five of them rushed through the crowd, in a quick attempt to flee from this lair. A billow of flames rose behind them as they managed to escape through another opening. Raph grunted, his shell slamming against the floor as the others ran down ahead. The hothead lifted his head, noticing how the flames had died out. Poking his head up to peek over the opening and back into the room he noticed the dragon turning to face Tigerclaw again.

“Do you have the power to manifest my wish?” Tigerclaw questioned. Raph’s eyes widened, as he noticed Rahzar and Fishface suddenly appear. He didn’t know how long he had been there spying but it had to be several minutes.

“Indeed, Tigerclaw,” Kavaxas replied. “I have that power and so much more.

“Besides killing the turtles, I also command you, Kavaxas to bring the Shredder back from the dead!” Raph’s pupils constricted as he shrunk at that revelation. He was left horrified beyond what he heard. It took all of his will power not to kill Rahzar right then and there, but ghouls filled the entire room and that demo dragon was far more powerful than any of them.

“Just as you rose Bradford from the dead,” Tigerclaw said. Raph could feel his heart hammering inside his chest. It all made sense now… they had brought Rahzar back from the dead and now were going to resurrect the Shredder as well!?

“Two vital components still remain,” Kavaxas spoke, folding his wings behind himself. “His heart, through which new life can flow, his lost helmet, the Kuro Kabuto, which holds his mental energy. These are things that must be retrieved if you wish to revive the Shredder.”

“Bradford, Xever, find the Kuro Kabuto and bring it to me,” Tigerclaw commanded. Raph ducked his head, eyes wide with fear.

Raphael turned, leaping up as he rushed down the tunnel. He could hear Kavaxas’ last words echoing behind him, but he managed to catch what he said.

_“Bringing someone back to life, comes with a price.” _


	5. The Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Referenced off the first few episodes of Season 5.

“RAPH!” He could feel Leo, Donnie, April and Casey all engulfing him into a tight hug. He had finally made it to the lair.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Raph retorted. “You can cut it out already.”

“We thought that we lost you back there!” Leo cupped the side of his face. “I thought that I lost another brother…” Raph blushed in embarrassment, shoving Leo’s hand away.

“Can it, Leo, I’m fine. But you won’t believe what I heard.” Leo dropped his hand to his side, as everyone stepped back waiting for Raph to confess the news. Raph began to elaborate how he heard Tigerclaw talking to Kavaxas, along with Rahzar and Fishface.

“Tigerclaw is…. he summoned Kavaxas to revive Rahzar from the dead… and now he’s going to revive the Shredder!?” Donnie’s eyes widened as saucers. “It all makes sense now!”

Leo paced around in the TV, nervousness and anxiety building up in him. “This is like nothing we’ve ever faced before. A mythical being that has the power to bring the dead back to life…”

“It seemed like Tigerclaw was using some sort of seal to control Kavaxas,” Raph said. He clenched his fist tightly. “It took all of my willpower not to kill Rahzar right then and there. But Kavaxas told Tigerclaw that he needed to get Shredder’s heart, and his helmet.”

“Then we know what we must do. Stop Tigerclaw from reviving the Shredder,” Leo stated.

“Shouldn’t we rest and heal up first?” April questioned. “Raph and Casey are still pretty banged up, and we have a few scratches.”

“There is no time to waste,” Leo shook his head, turning to give all four of them a solemn expression. His eyes were deeply rooted and blue. “We need to split up, Casey and Raph you’ll search for the heart, where Donnie and I along with April will go after Shredder’s helmet.”

Raph shared a look with Casey, both of them clasping hands before leaving the lair. “Uh, Leo…” Donnie drawled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Just exactly how are we going to find Shredder’s helmet, we have no idea where it is-”

A ringing noise cut him off, the eldest pulling out his t-phone as he answered it. “Karai?”

“Leo!” Her voice could be heard on the other line. “Something is definitely up. Someone is trying to take over the Foot Clan, and they’ve got the Kuro Kabuto.”

“Shredder’s helmet?” Leo’s eyes widened. Donnie turned his head, as he felt April gently clasp his hand. He squeezed it as she gazed up at him.

“This man, his name is Tatsu,” Karai replied.

“Karai,” Leo interrupted. He closed his eyes tightly. “We need to get Shredder’s helmet at all cost. Tigerclaw plans to use it to revive the Shredder back from the dead.” There was brief silence on the other line.

“He what!?” Karai nearly screeched into the phone, causing Leo to flinch. He could also hear another feminine voice murmuring in the background, it had to be Shinigami. “Is that even possible!?”

“Yes, Tigerclaw formed his own cult of darkness. And he summoned a mythical being called Kavaxas who has the power to bring the dead back to life. He’s already revived Bradford, and now he’s going to revive the Shredder.”

“Great, now we’re dealing with a dragon spirit from the underworld?” she huffed in irritation.

“Karai, do you think Tatsu is working with Tigerclaw?” Leo inquired, he had to know. This could be crucial information.

“No, highly doubt it. He wants control over the Foot Clan and wants to be the new Shredder.”

“After all Shredder put you through,” April interrupted, leaning closer to Leo since she and Donnie could hear Karai on the other line. “Why not just give up on the foot?”

“It’s not that simple, O’Neil,” Karai replied, scowling.

“Guys, it doesn’t matter,” Leo clenched his hand tightly onto his t-phone. “We have no choice but to take Tatsu down.”

* * *

**MEANWHILE IN CHINA TOWN**

* * *

Raph and Casey were perched on a rooftop gazing down in the streets below. “Just how we are going to even find Shredder’s heart?”

“I don’t know, Jones,” Raph growled under his breath. “But you heard Leo. We have to find it.”

“Raph, dude!” Casey nudged his arm. Sure enough down below they saw several men entering inside his restaurant. The big man seemed to hold some sort of vial of some sort.

“Let’s check it out.” Raph climbed down, Casey following suit. The two of them had managed to crawl into the window of the restaurant, peeking through the glass as Raph opened it quietly.

“That’s gotta be the heart!” Casey exclaimed, Raph shushing him. “How can he even eat this dinner while that is sitting beside him?” the human gagged.

“Don’t know,” Raph shrugged his shoulders. “But we need to get that thing.” They could hear the other men talking to him.

  
“Yo boss, want me to take that gross thing off the table?” The bigger man growled, clutching the vial closer as he slurped up more spaghetti. “You ignorant goombahs. Some cultures believe that you gain the power of your enemy by consuming the heart.”

Raph threw a shuriken as it flew down and nearly pierced the man’s hand on the table. The men stood up alarmed, as Raph leapt down twirling his sais. “Give us that heart or so help me. I’ll beat ya’ll to a pulp!”

Casey jumped down, pulling out his bat that was covered with nails.

* * *

**AT SHREDDER’S OLD LAIR**

* * *

Once Leo, Donnie, and April had arrived at Shredder’s old lair they were too late. Karai and Shinigami were already facing off Tatsu.

“The helmet!” Leo cried, lunging for the said metal that rolled across the floor. Donnie and April leapt into action, fighting against Tatsu. Just when Leo managed to gain possession of the helmet it was ripped from his hands. Rahzar had snatched it, socking the turtle in the plastron as he flew into the wall.

Rahzar hissed, clutching the helmet, before turning around as Donnie and April rushed toward him.

“NO!”

“Get him! He has the Kuro Kabuto!”

“Not so fast,” another figure leapt down from the ceiling, smacking Donnie as he was sent flying into April, knocking both into the floor. Tatsu turned, before fleeing the scene as he realized that there was no chance in retrieving the Kabuto. Kavaxas picked up the helmet before letting out a burst of green flame. April put out her hands forming a barrier of protection around her, Donnie, Leo, Karai and Shinigami.

“No!” Leo slammed his fists against the ground. “He took the helmet!”

“I will go after Tatsu!” Karai exclaimed. “Shini and I will take care of him!” And just like that she and her friend were gone.

“Leo!” Donnie rushed over to his oldest brother, with April helping to hold him up. “Raph says that they got Shredder’s heart from Don Vizioso. Apparently he wanted Shredder’s heart.”

“How?” Leo croaked, trying to take a moment to breathe.

“He just texted me now,” Donnie held up his t-phone revealing the text message. Leo sighed deeply, “then we must help them. That’s the last component and we can’t fail.” The three of them rushed out from Shredder’s lair to find Raph and Casey dashing down the street.

“RAPH!” A shadow passed by over them, and it was none other than Kavaxas.

“Oh sewer apples!” Donnie exclaimed. “It’s him!”

“Don’t let him take the heart!”

All five of them were running like mad down the street as Kavaxas swooped down, with one puff he breathed out fire as several flames nicked Raph’s shoulder. Raph screamed, plastron slamming against the cement as the vial he held slipped from his grasp.

“NO!”

Kavaxas chuckled, grasping the vial before flying up into the air.

“He got the heart!” April gasped. “Now what do we do!?”

“We need to get to Tigerclaw’s lair, NOW!” Raph could feel pairs of arms grasping him as they hurried to the nearest manhole cover. The red head grunted, forcing himself to stand and to brace through the pain. It was all or never, they needed to get to Tigerclaw’s lair before the Shredder would come back from the dead.

Never had the gang ran so fast in their entire lives. They barely made it to Tigerclaw’s lair just to see Kavaxas set Shredder’s helmet and heart into the circle, next to his dead body that lay there. Tigerclaw was holding up the seal, chanting as flames rose into the air.

“GET THAT SEAL!” Leo roared, over the noise of the ghouls screeching as they turned on them. April was the first to send a psychotic beam throughout the room, sending a wave of ghouls flying backwards.

Donnie used his bo staff to whack several out of their way, whereas Leo happened to slice some, cutting off some body parts. But everything was a blur. In one final moment, Raph threw his sai as it spiraled through the air.

The sharp end of the sai knocked the seal from Tigerclaw’s grasp as the tiger roared loudly. Rahzar and Fishface lunged at them, as Raph focus was on one thing only, that ancient seal. His shoulder burned with pain, and he felt something claw his cheek as blood spurted in the air. Yet, he pushed through it, ignoring the flare of pain and lunged with all his life.

“RAPH!” Green fire erupted all around him as Raph brought his hands up to protect himself from the flames. Fortunately enough, he found that the flames didn’t burn him as he gasped in shock. The seal was clutched in his left hand as everyone froze in the entire room.

“No!” Tigerclaw growled, “he only obeys me!”

“Too bad, catface,” Raph smirked, holding up the ancient seal into the air. “I’ve got the seal! You don’t obey him anymore!”

Kavaxas scowled, growling lowly. His wings flapped behind him, before he knelt down to kneel at Raphael’s feet. “I obey whatever you wish, master.”

Tigerclaw’s eyes widened, before he turned to flee, along with Fishface. It was the first time that the turtles along with April and Casey had seen Tigerclaw so scared.

However, when Rahzar tried to escape Leo had managed to fly through the air, kicking him as he fell back. “You are not going anywhere,” Leo growled dangerously. April’s eyes widened as she stepped back, along with Casey. The three brother’s eyes were pure white, including Donnie and Leo who both loomed over Rahzar.

Rahzar growled, only to feel a staff smack him in the face. “You will pay for killing my little brother…” Donnie gritted his teeth tightly. Tears began to pour from the olive-green turtle’s eyes, angry, sad and bitter tears. Leo’s eyes were an icy blue as he lifted up his katana high into the air.

Rahzar lifted up his claw catching Leo’s katana as he sent it spiraling away, knocking him back along with Donnie. “Fools! You forget that I am stronger than you all!”

“Oh really?” Raph stepped forward, clutching the seal with a death-like grip. “You may be stronger than us all, but you’re not stronger than him,” he motioned toward Kavaxas. “And you will pay the price for murdering my little brother!” Raph roared in fury. “Kavaxas, kill him!”

“As you wish, master.” The red demon dragon shot up into the air. Rahzar screamed before his body was consumed with burning green flames. The dragon stepped back to reveal a burnt dead corpse that lay there. Raph walked up to Rahzar’s dead body, using his sai to slit his throat. A sickening crunching noise that echoed into the room.

“There, it’s done,” Leo replied, sheathing his katana back into its hilt. The three of them stared down at Rahzar’s corpse before Kavaxas fired another burst of flame turning his body completely into ashes. April and Casey stood there silently, shocked from their cores. They had never seen such fury in the turtle brothers’ eyes.

“Raph,” Leo walked up to the hothead. “We should command Kavaxas to return to his realm and break this seal so that nobody can use this ever again.”

“Wait, Leo,” Donnie grasped onto the leader’s shoulder, pleading with his older brother. “We actually can still use that seal for one last thing.”

“What?”

“You know…” Donnie clenched his hands to his sides, tears leaking out from his eyes as they rolled down his cheeks. “He can bring the dead back to life… and Mikey… You said it wasn’t his time to go…”

Leo’s eyes widened, they too tearing up before gazing at Raph. The red masked turtle’s lip trembled, clenching the seal tightly. “Then, we’ll do it.” Raph handed Leo the seal as the leader turned to face Kavaxas. “Kavaxas, I command you that you bring our dead brother back.”

“Hmmm,” the dragon mused, tapping his claws against his arms. “Is he a turtle freak like you?” Raph growled at that, only to feel Leo place a hand onto his plastron holding him back.

“Yes, he is like one of us,” Leo replied.

“Then you will need his heart, and his bandana mask,” Kavaxas replied. “And only then will I be able to revive your brother. Though I must warn you, bringing the dead back to life always come with a price.”

"Whatever the price is we'll pay it," Donnie nodded his head in affirmation.

"It's not up to you to pay the price. The dead have passed beyond the portals where one is to never return. And defiling their death, may not fare them well."

"We want him back.... we need him back..." Leo frowned. "He's our heart..."

"Very well, then I shall bring your brother back to life. Fetch me those two components and it shall be done."


	6. Defiling Death

“You sure this will work?” April questioned, watching the three brothers as they prepared themselves. Donnie entered the shellraiser as he nodded his head.

“It should work, April.”

“It’s our last chance,” Raph replied, clenching his fist as he sat into his station. Leo went to the front to sit into the driver’s seat. April and Casey followed inside once the engine began to start. The next thing they knew, the shellraiser began to drive off out from the garage behind Donnie’s lab and out the sewers until they came to the world up above to where Kavaxas waited.

The dragon flew high into the air, following them as they drove on toward the countryside, where Mikey was buried at the farmhouse. It took several hours of driving, before they had arrived at their destination.

“We’re here,” Leo put the vehicle into park. Raph opened the door as everyone exited. Kavaxas landed softly onto the grass, gazing around with his arms folded across his chest.

“So, we need Mikey’s mask and heart,” Donnie stated. “For once I’m glad that we decided to embalm Mikey, for his body is preserved longer, so his heart should still be intact inside him.”

The five of them walked up to the peach tree, noticing how many petals have fallen over Michelangelo’s grave.

“I can’t believe we’re going to do this,” Leo took in a deep breath. He nodded toward Raph as the hothead pulled out the shovel that he had carried from the shellraiser. Leo knelt down to grasp Mikey’s bandana mask as Donnie took his nun-chucks. They took a step back, as Raph rammed the shovel against the mound of dirt.

He grunted, digging up deep piles of earth and shoved it aside, continuing to dig until he hit something solid and hard.

“There it is,” Donnie pointed. Raph brushed the dirt aside to reveal a golden coffin. He used the sharp end of the shovel to dug up around the sides so it would be easier to take out the coffin from within the ground.

“Think you can lift it, April?” Donnie gazed at his girlfriend. She nodded her head, before closing her eyes as she focused on her powers. The coffin began to chime, like the metal had been banged against it, shaking until there came a loud POP that resonated through the air.

“That should do it,” Leo commented. The three brothers knelt down all clasping her hands underneath the coffin as it was finally free. They lifted it up from the grave and set it aside.

“You know, as cool as this is, this still is freaky,” Casey said, watching as Leo used his katana to pry open the coffin. “You know, digging up someone’s grave.”

“Don’t care,” Raph retorted, using his touch calloused hands to rip the cover of the coffin off. “Anything to save Mikey.”

“We have to unwrap him,” Leo mused, motioning his head to Mikey’s body that still lay in the coffin, completely wrapped with white linen.

“Got it,” Raph pulled out his sai, gently using the sharp tip to rip the thin fabric apart.

“He looks so…. peaceful,” April murmured. She tilted her head down to glance at Mikey’s face. His eyes were closed, with that smile still there.

“Here,” Donnie pulled out a small kit from aside him. He handed a pair of gloves to Leo, Raph, Casey, and April. “We’ll need to lift his body out, we’ll need to wear these.” They obliged knowing that it wasn’t safe to straight out touch a dead body. Once they all put the safety gloves on they reached in, to lift Michelangelo’s body from his coffin and laid him against the soft grass.

Kavaxas stepped forward, motioning with his hand. “Put the mask on his body. And tell me his full name.”

“His name is Michelangelo,” Donnie said.

Leo nodded his head, clasping the orange cloth as he lifted up Mikey’s head wrapping the bandana back in its original spot. Donnie took Mikey’s chucks, shoving them into the holsters of Mikey’s belt, before taking a tentative step back. Each of them disposed of the gloves that they wore, throwing them away into Donnie’s kit.

The red dragon began to lift his hands into the air, chanting. “Kovatala, Zavanasa, Vakasala! Let Michelangelo rise once more!” He roared into the air. Petals from the peach tree began to fly, all twirling around Mikey’s body as everyone watched in anticipation.

A bright light could be seen radiating over Mikey’s body, before it dimmed down as the dragon turned to face them. “It is done.”

“Mikey!” Raph knelt down at his little brother’s side, searching him for any signs of life. The orange masked turtle let out a groan, before his eyes flew open gasping heavily. “MIKEY!” Raph wasted no time to throw his arms around his brother, as did Leo and Donnie, all three of them embracing him tightly.

“D-dudes?...” Mikey croaked, utterly confused as his eyes scrutinized his surroundings wildly. “You’re dead too?...” And that’s when it hit him full force, pain. He screamed, a shrill scream that echoed into the forest air. Mikey clutched his plastron tightly, whimpering as Donnie’s eyes widened, the three brothers pulling back a little.   
  


“Quick! We need to take him to my lab!” The genius motioned toward the visible scar that was still evident on Mikey’s plastron. Since his body died, it didn’t take time to even heal the wound although Donnie had cleaned it.

“Already on it,” Raph slid his arms underneath Mikey’s legs and his shoulders, lifting him up. Leo turned, holding up the seal as he face Kavaxas. “Kavaxas, I command you to return to your realm!”

Mikey groaned, hyperventilating. He felt dizzy, he felt the worst pain ever…. The pain he felt when he died, it was all occurring to him once again, he didn’t understand! Through his blurry vision he could notice some sort of red demon-like dragon, as Leo spoke something as if he was commanding it, holding some sort of circle like object.

“As you wish,” Kavaxas bowed his head, before flapping his wings as he roared. He billowed out a puff of flames into the air, summoning a green portal as it opened. He took off, flying straight through it before disappearing out from thin air, along with the portal itself.

And that’s when everything turned black, Mikey falling into unconsciousness. Raph rushed toward the shellraiser as did the others.   
  


“Hurry! We can’t waste any time!”

The freckled turtle continued to whimper in agony, tears leaking from his eyes. “I’ve got you, little brother… I’ve got you,” Raph soothed, clutching him tighter. “Just hold on.”

The next thing Mikey knew was that everything was blinding, it hurt. He flinched audibly, squinting his eyes to the brightness of the light. He could hear whispers, familiar ones.   
  


“Dim the lights, Raph.”

“Huh?” Mikey lifted his head, as the light began to subside. Then he felt it again, the twinge of pain only it wasn’t as potent than before. Pain… he shouldn’t even be feeling pain… the dead don’t feel pain.

He craned his neck, trying to search for any explanation to what had happened. There was a bandage that was wrapped tightly around his plastron, and IVs were connected to his arms. All he remembered was that he was talking with Master Splinter, giggling and laughing as he saw Tang Shen.

She hugged him, telling him just how much of a good son he was. And the next thing Mikey knew some peculiar force tugged on him out of nowhere. He remembered the shock written across Tang Shen’s face, and Master Splinter as well. Then he heard another voice, one that belonged to a deity.

_“So it seems that someone has defiled your death.” _

Then he was flying through the air, an invisible force dragging him back and toward his grave, to where he was slammed into something. He fought so hard against that force, he didn’t want to leave… he didn’t want to leave heaven, he didn’t want to leave Master Splinter. And then he felt the pain. Something that he never wanted to feel again…

Mikey gasped sharply, ripping the IVs from his arms as blood began to squirt into the air. He was dead, yet he was forced back into life!

“MIKEY!”

How was that even possible? Only a deity could unravel the bands of death, what happened? He could feel pairs of arms pushing him gently back down onto the cot. “Mikey, it’s us,” he blinked several times to be met with midnight blues, emerald green and chocolate irises. Leo, Donnie, Raph… they were here, standing around his cot. They were clinging to him as if he could disappear in any given moment. Tears were streaming down their faces, he could hear the choking sounds of their sobbing.

“Where am I? How is this… possible?” he rasped, shaking violently in his brothers’ arms. He could see April and Casey standing behind the two of them also crying happily. “I’m supposed to be dead…”

“We brought you back,” Mikey felt a gentle hand cup his chin, lifting it up so he was gazing into Leo’s eyes. He had never seen his brothers so distraught yet, happy at the same time.

“How?” he blinked hard, using his hand to rip Leo’s grasp away from his chin.

“Well, Tigerclaw was cooking up some vile plan to revive the Shredder back from the dead,” Donnie began to explain, touching Mikey’s shoulder gently. “He summoned a demodragon from another world, a powerful being that had the power to bring the dead back to life. We barely managed to stop Tigerclaw and instead, controlled the demodragon to destroy all the cultists and used his power to revive you, to bring you back to life.”

“Uh…” Mikey lifted a hand to touch the side of his head. This was all too much to take in, he was getting a headache. “You brought me back to life?...” he gazed down at his hands, staring at them.

“We’re just so glad that you’re back bro,” Raph gently clasped the side of Mikey’s head, placing his forehead affectionately against Mikey’s. The freckled terrapin closed his eyes, clenching his fists tightly. “I missed you… little brother…” the emerald green turtle sniffled.

Mikey lifted his head, gazing intently at Raph, before diverting his attention to Donnie as the genius handed him a glass of water. “Here, drink this and swallow this pill. It’ll help so that you can recover faster.”

The youngest scowled, glaring at the glass before he took it and the three brothers did not expect an ear-splitting sound to shatter into the lab. April covered her ears as Casey yelped, stepping aside from the impact. Mikey had thrown the glass against the wall, glass shards shattering in every direction as the pills spilled along with it.

“Mikey!”

“What the shell bro!? We’re trying to help you!” Raph grasped onto Mikey’s arms, holding the freckled turtle down as he began to thrash against the cot.

“I don’t want it! I don’t want it! I DON’T WANT IT!” he screamed, kicking his legs as one happened to nick Raph’s side, causing the hothead to yelp.

“Mikey!” Leo reached down to help the red masked turtle to restrain Mikey against the white bed. Donnie grasped a syringe from on top of his desk, injecting the needle into Mikey’s arm.

“This should calm him down,” Donnie replied, gently retreating the needle out from Mikey’s skin. He dabbed several bandages around the bleeding holes where Mikey had ripped his IVs out. The freckled turtle lay there, his body instantly going slack as Leo and Raph released him.

Mikey’s eyes were filled with pain and betrayal, something that confused the older turtle brothers. They had done this for Mikey’s sake, and they were only trying to help him.

“Just rest, Mikey, you’ll feel better in no time,” Donnie patted his shoulder gently. “I can put the medication through a syringe if that’ll make you feel better.”

The youngest shrugged turning his head to the side, avoiding his brothers’ gazes. He could feel something pinching him, it had to be the medication that Donnie used. Mikey closed his eyes, allowing himself to relax, yet found that he could not. How could he anymore? Though he eventually drifted off into sleep, feeling his brothers’ presence close to him. He could tell that they weren’t leaving his side anytime soon.


	7. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Chapter contains suicide attempt! Read at your own risk!

The three turtle brothers thought that everything would return back to normal now that Mikey was with them again. They had missed their baby brother dearly, and it they couldn’t describe the joy they felt knowing that he was here. However, it was not what they anticipated. Mikey wasn’t the Mikey they knew.

“Hey, Mikey,” Raph lifted up his hand to greet his little brother who had entered the kitchen. It had been a full week and the turtle was well enough to be out and about moving around. Mikey didn’t bother to respond, ignoring Raph as he walked into the kitchen silently eating his breakfast.

Raph let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his head. None of this made any sense. Usually Mikey would be taunting and ticking Raph off, but he wasn’t. For once, Mikey didn’t annoy him. It was like he didn’t even acknowledge their existence. Donnie sipped his coffee as Leo peeped into the entranceway signifying that they had training.

Mikey followed them silently into the dojo, clasping his nun-chucks as he braced himself into a fighting stance. Leo ordered that they all face each other in combat. Raph smirked, gazing at Mikey. He knew what he was going to do, he was going to tick him off and then he would have no choice but to beg.

“Hajime!” Mikey twirled himself, dodging Raph’s incoming attack. He continued to flip, smacking Leo across the face and sending Donnie’s bo staff spiraling away. Leo advanced on Mikey only to feel his arm being grasped and his shell thudding against the wall. As for Raph, the hothead socked Mikey in the arm, nonetheless Mikey didn’t flinch whatsoever. He swung around, kicking Raph as he sent falling backwards onto the floor. This left the brothers all shocked, Mikey never beat them… at anything… not even training. His eyes weren’t glittering with excitement, they were tense and focused.

“Well, great job, Mikey,” Leo stated, smiling at him.

“That’s it!” Raph growled, lunging at Mikey. He tackled the orange masked turtle against the dojo floor, having none of it. This wasn’t Mikey at all! He wrapped his arms around Mikey’s neck into a chokehold, smirking widely at how familiar this felt. Perhaps this would trigger it. “Say it!” He tightened his hold onto Mikey.

Typically Mikey’s eyes were wide with fear, and he would be thrashing against Raph. Unfortunately, Mikey didn’t flinch, only clasping his hands onto Raph’s arms. He didn’t say a word, staying completely still and calm.

“Say it!” Raph repeated, growling.

“Raph!” He could hear Leo scold behind him. And then Raph felt it, pain exploded against his face as he groaned, instantly releasing Mikey as he huffed. Something warm trickled down the side of his mouth, the turtle touching it to bring his hand in front of him. It was blood. His nose was bleeding. Mikey had punched him directly in the face that hard.

“Raph!” Donnie was at the hothead’s side, examining his nose.

“Mikey!” Leo exclaimed, walking over to glare at the orange masked turtle as he stood up swiftly. “Remember the first rule of a ninja? Do no harm, unless you mean to do harm then do lots of harm.”

“I meant to do that, Leo,” Mikey replied, his eyes cold as he glared at Raph. Raphael growled, only to feel Donnie holding him back.

“Raph, don’t move we need to take of this.”

“Mikey…” Leo frowned sullenly, attempting to reach out for the youngest. “You would never inflict harm on us.” The leader could feel his heart flinch as Mikey recoiled back from him.

“Don’t touch me, Leo. I don’t want any of you to touch me, don’t make me do worse,” Mikey spat, gritting his teeth before he prodded out the blade of his nun-chuck. Leo’s eyes widened, taking a tentative step back as everyone fell silent.

Satisfied, Mikey clamped the blade shut before exiting the dojo. “What the shell was that?” Raph groaned, feeling Donnie pull out some alcohol swabs from his belt.

“Something is not right…” Leo mused, sighing.

“It’s like… he’s not himself…” Donnie added, finishing with cleaning up the blood from Raph’s nose.

“Ya don’t say, Brainiac,” Raph huffed, pushing himself up as he growled. He clenched his fist tightly, before tears began to pool from his eyes. “I just… I want him back… I want the Mikey we knew… back…”

Mikey growled, shutting himself into his room. He slammed his fist against the wall, hissing underneath his breath. How could they!? Why couldn’t they get it already!? He sagged to the floor, burying his head into his knees. It was then he broke down crying.

* * *

**MEANWHILE IN THE LAB**

* * *

The three brothers had exited the dojo and headed into Donnie’s lab so the genius turtle could finish up with Raph’s nose, wrapping a bandage around it. “That should do it.”

“I’m tired of this!” Raph slammed his fist against the desk, a beaker jiggling due to the vibration of the impact.

“I know, Raph, I know,” Leo rubbed the side of his face. “We can’t force it out of him. We need to talk to him, we need him to open up to us.”

* * *

**LATER THAT NIGHT**

* * *

Mikey scowled at the pains of hunger. Not this again… he didn’t feel like eating anything. He didn’t know how long he had been sitting in his room sobbing, but he decided to get up feeling compelled to enter the bathroom. The orange masked turtle stared at his reflection in the mirror. Disgusted by his own self, Mikey threw his fist against the mirror, cracking it in the process, including his reflection. He pulled his hand back, several cuts now bleeding from piercing the glass.

Pain throbbed against his knuckles, diverting his attention down to remove several of his wrappings around his wrists. There he saw them, those scars on his wrists, he remembered that feeling. The feeling of the blade slicing across his skin. It felt so good.

The turtle found himself itching at the faint cut marks, he couldn’t stop. Why? He didn’t want to feel like this again… When he was dead he certainly didn’t feel any pain, and he was finally free from his heavy burdens. He didn’t understand, why his brothers had brought him back. Yes, of course he heard that they couldn’t live without him… but that did not help what he felt. He hated feeling like this… he hated being back here again. He missed Master Splinter, he missed being in a place free of pain. And now here he was, his brothers had forced him back into a world of pain.

“Mikey?” He jumped, startled. He quickly covered his wrists to find Donnie standing behind him in the open bathroom doorway. Oh he was such an idiot! He should’ve figured that he had left the bathroom door open!

“What were you doing?” Donnie tilted his head, before frowning as he noticed the shattered mirror and Mikey’s bleeding knuckles. “You’re bleeding!”

“It’s no big deal, D-ah!” Mikey winced when Donnie grasped his wrists holding them out.

“Did you… do this to yourself?” That’s when Donnie noticed the faint cuts that littered Mikey’s wrists. He had seen them before when he had to embalm Mikey’s body, but he didn’t think much about it, not until now. When Mikey didn’t respond, Donnie began to tug him toward the direction of the lab. “Come on, these need to be cleaned up.”

“NO.” Mikey seethed, stomping his foot as he ripped his hands away from Donnie’s grasp. It was then he noticed Leo and Raph stand up from their positions in the TV pit. The two of them walking over to see what the latter was.

“Donnie, what’s going on here?” Leo questioned.

“He hurt himself.” Leo’s eyes widened as saucers at that statement, as Raph was immediately at Mikey’s side.

“On purpose?” Leo sputtered, baffled.

“Seems like it,” Donnie nodded his head.

“I’m fine, dudes! Cut it out!” Mikey growled, feeling Raph grasp both of his wrists. “Let go of me, Raph!”

“No,” the hothead tightened his grip on Mikey. The orange masked turtle flinched, to which Raph noticed instant regret appearing on his face. He released Mikey’s wrists as the youngest turtle turned to glare daggers at all three of them.

“I said that I’m fine. Why won’t you leave it already?”

“Hurting yourself wont’ help with anything, Mikey,” Donnie frowned sadly.

“Remember, no turtle left behind?” Leo reached toward him, only to feel his hand being smacked away.

“None of you even live by that rule!”

“Mikey, where’s this coming from?” Leo questioned, worry rising in the leader’s face.

“You’re our brother,” Donnie added.

Mikey shook his head fervently, feeling hot angry and bitter tears stinging his eyes. “Why’d you bring me back?”

“What are you talking about, Knucklehead?” Raph asked, making sure that his tone of voice was cool and recollected.

“You shouldn’t have brought me back to life. It was my time to go.”

“No, it wasn’t, Mikey. It wasn’t your time,” Leo took a cautious step forward.

The freckled terrapin shook his head, tears leaking down his cheeks as his lips trembled. “No… you chose me over Sensei…”

“Mikey…. You’re our brother…” Donnie reached out toward his younger brother. “What don’t you understand?”

“None of you dudes understand!” Mikey stomped his foot, gritting his teeth tightly as more tears of anguish escaped his baby blue irises. “Why bring back someone so worthless?....”

“Worthless?” Donnie’s eyes widened at that confirmation. Raph clenched his fists tightly, veins nearly bulging out his fists.

“Mikey, you’re not-” Leo objected.

“You should’ve left me dead!” Mikey shouted, tears blurring his vision, rolling down his freckled cheeks. “I was finally happy!” In that split moment, Mikey reacted.

“MIKEY!” He could his bros screaming his name. The orange masked turtle gave chase, leaping over the turnstiles. How could it come to this? Now his brothers knew? He knew that he needed to get away, they would prevent him from doing the one thing that had been on his mind: death.

He wanted to be back with Splinter. He wanted to be back to that wonderful place free of pain. He couldn’t stand being here anymore. Mikey continued to dash down the sewer tunnel, adrenaline fueling his movements. His bros screams could still be heard echoing along the curved walls.

Mikey continued to race alongside the subway tracks, and then he heard it. The sound of rumbling, the vibration that he could feel beneath the cement. There he saw it, the flare of a headlight. Everything was a blur, Mikey leaping down into the subway tracks, turning to face the oncoming train.

At least it would be over quickly, and he could finally leave. Mikey shut his eyes tightly feeling the rumbling growing louder and louder until he could feel air slapping against his skin. He braced himself for the pain, feeling a hard impact colliding against him.

He expected everything to end, but he could feel his shell scrapping against something. Something warm held him in a tight vice-like grip. It was then, Mikey dared to open his eyes. He could feel the wind slapping against him, his bandana tails flickering wildly, along with red ones. Mikey gasped, as the train had passed by. He heard the sound of choking, tears hitting his cheeks as he was met with emerald green irises.

Raph growled above him, slamming his fist against the cement beside his head. And it was then that Raph broke down completely, his grip on Mikey solid as iron. Mikey closed his eyes, feeling himself pass out.


	8. Heart of Gold

The brothers were running, hearts beating as if they'd explode from their chests. And that's when they saw it. Mikey leaping onto the subway tracks and the oncoming train.

"MIKEY!" Donnie reached out a hand, tears flying through the air. Leonardo seemed frozen in shock, and Raph... well, he only did one thing; he lunged. That split second was a miracle.

Raph had tackled Mikey against the side of the tracks, shielding his little brother from the rushing wind of the bypassing train. He growled clutching Mikey with all his life, sobbing as he slammed his fist against the cement. Mikey lay there motionless, eyes wide with horror before rolling to the back of his head. Leo and Donnie were at his side, helping Raph to lift Mikey up.

None of them couldn’t believe that this would happen. The three brothers never expected that their Mikey, their sunshine ever held such darkness from within.

“How come we never noticed this?” Leo sighed, as Donnie set Mikey’s unconscious body onto the cot, checking him over for any signs of injuries. Luckily enough, the turtle had no scratch laid upon him, Raph had done well in protecting him. But it horrified them, the three brothers of just how close that was. It could’ve clearly went wrong.

“Depression can be unnoticeable until it rears its head,” Donnie explained, turning on his computer to type away. “Self-harm is a means of a depressed mind trying to find something to inflict upon themselves, because they feel that they deserve it, or rather the pain feels good.”

“But… why Mikey?...” Raph gazed at his unconscious brother, hand clutching the side bar of the cot. “He isn’t supposed to be like this.”

“He was always so happy… and carefree,” Leo frowned.

“Apparently he wasn’t,” Donnie sighed, continuing to do some more research on what could’ve caused Mikey to do such a thing. “It was just a way of masking his true feelings.” Leo sighed, placing a gentle hand onto Mikey’s shoulder.

“I wonder… what caused this to happen? What caused Mikey to become depressed? To the point that he… didn’t even want to be here anymore…” Leo’s eyes teared up, those words were difficult to say.

“Don’t know, but we shall find out,” Donnie got up from his computer to close the lab doors. “But we have to make sure that he doesn’t leave the lair, and keep anything sharp away from him.” The two eldest brothers nodded, pulling up a chair for themselves to sit around Mikey’s cot. They weren’t leaving anytime soon, not until Mikey woke up. There was no way they were letting the youngest out of their sight.

* * *

**TWO HOURS LATER**

* * *

Mikey groaned, his eyes cracking open slightly to be met with three familiar green blobs, one blue, red, and purple. Great… he flinched realization coming back to him. He had jumped in front of that train and he was so close! But then, Raph had managed to tackle him, seizing the opportunity away. He turned his head to the side, staring off into space.

“Mikey…” he could feel a hand touching his shoulder. “Please… talk to us.”

“We just want to help you, you need to tell us what’s been going on through your mind,” Donnie spoke softly.

“Little brother…” Mikey blinked, feeling a rough hand touching his cheek. It was Raph. He lifted his gaze as he had no choice but to gaze at him. Taking in a deep breath, he turned his head to the other side, so he was facing his bros.

“What is there to talk about?...”

“Why Mikey? What made you want to hurt yourself?” Tears trickled from Leo’s eyes as he gently took Mikey’s hands into his own. Baby blues stared back into midnight noticing the sincerity rooted in Leo’s eyes. Behind them, Mikey could notice the pain. Had he really hurt them that bad? As much as he felt hurt, he couldn’t bare the thought of ever hurting his own brothers.

“I…” Mikey choked, the three other turtles waiting patiently for him to continue. “I always felt like it deserved it…” he bit his lip tightly.. “I was nothing but a pain, so I deserved the pain…”

“Ya little idiot,” Mikey could feel Raph grasp the back of his head, it was strong yet gentle at the same time. “You were never a pain, ya hear me?” Mikey blinked, taking note of the burning intensity of Raph’s eyes.

Another hand touched his other shoulder, signifying Donnie. “What made you feel like you were a pain, Mikey?” he asked. The youngest turned to face the genius turtle, letting out a deep sigh.

“Thought you dudes already knew…”

“You have to tell us, Mikey. It’s the only way we can know how we can help you,” Leo’s eyes burned with sincerity, pleading.

“It’s just…” Mikey began to choke, hands clutching onto his belt. “I always felt like the weak one… you all had your roles to the team, Raph the warrior, Leo you’re the leader, and Donnie is the brains… and me… I don’t fit in… I had no purpose…”

Raph opened his mouth to object, only to be silenced by Leo who held up his hand. “Let him continue, Raph.”

“And you guys always brushed me off… that one time at TCRI none of you wanted me. Perhaps you didn’t think how that hurt? And it’s like none of you even appreciated me!”

“Mikey…” Leo frowned at this, as did Raph and Donnie. The hothead clenching his fists against his sides. How could this happen? He was supposed to be there to protect his little brother, yet it seemed that he had failed to do so.

“And I felt so worthless!...” Big fat tears rolled down the freckled turtle’s cheeks.

“Shhhh, it’s okay Ototo,” Leo wrapped his arms around Mikey. As much as the turtle could feel his heart twitching with pain, he felt eased in Leo’s embrace. “We are so sorry that we made you feel this way. But you have to understand, that you are important to this team too,” he felt a hand lifting up his chin. Mikey blinked, seeing his brothers’ three faces smiling at him.

“We love you, Mikey,” Donnie said.

“Nothing is the same without you bro,” Raph spoke softly.

“You are the link to his team, you are the heart, the glue that holds us together,” Leo smiled fondly, cradling Mikey’s head lovingly.

“R-really?”

“Really, Ototo,” Leo leaned forward to press his forehead against Mikey’s. The orange masked turtle began to sob, feeling Raph and Donnie join in into the hug. He buried his head into Leo’s plastron, crying his heart okay.

“It’s going to be okay, Mikey,” he could hear Donnie whisper into his ear. “Even though in your mind it doesn’t feel like it. It’s not a bad thing to need help, some things you aren’t meant to go through alone. And this certainly is one little brother. Asking for help doesn’t make you weak, we need help from time to time. So, let us help you.”

“We love you, Knucklehead. Please don’t ever think that we don’t,” Raph treaded his fingers through Mikey’s bandana tails, caressing the dome of Mikey’s head. The three of them stayed there, allowing Mikey to cry it all out, holding him tightly like there was no tomorrow.

This certainly would be quite a long journey, but there was no way they were going to leave Mikey to deal with this alone. He was their glue, they needed him, and he needed them.

* * *

**ONE MONTH LATER**

* * *

Sure it was hard after Mikey’s suicide attempt, but progress took baby steps. Everyday, Mikey woke up to find his brothers asking him if he needed anything. Whenever he did mess up, they didn’t get mad, they knew that he was still healing and understood how fragile his mind was. Donnie suggested that they do some therapy in his lab. The genius had researched different methods to help Mikey cope with his depression and self-harm.

April even made her own father come down to the lab, since he too was a scientist and psychologist. He had knowledge of the brain, how it functioned and what things could be done to improve Mikey’s mentality and emotional well-being.

It first started off with Donnie installing an ultra-violet lamp into Mikey’s room. Mr. O’Neil had said that certain colors had different effects on the mind, to soothe and to make one fall asleep in a calm manner. Who would’ve thought that color therapy could even be a thing? But it certainly worked for Mikey, beside taking antidepressants and counseling sessions from Donnie and Mr. O’Neil, and including April who had gained a few insights.

“You okay, Mikey?” The orange masked turtle was in the TV pit, using a red sharpie to scribble all over a piece of paper, and even slashed the sharpie to make marks on his wrists. Of course, he wanted to feel the pain, but just having something to scribble and make a red mark soothed him.

“Yeah,” Mikey beamed, lifting his head as he continued to create red slash marks onto the paper. “Just… I had the urge to cut again… so I uh… did this instead,” he replied.

“Good,” Donnie smiled, rubbing his head lovingly. “I’m glad this method of coping with your urge to cut is working for you.”

“Yeah!” Mikey chuckled, “I used to love to paint and draw all the time. It makes me feel calm.”

“Hey, Mikey!” A feminine voice was heard, the redhaired girl entering the lair alongside Casey as Raph and Leo came out from the dojo.

“I got some scented candles, thought you’d love them,” April smiled, holding out the two candles.

“Mmm,” Mikey stood up, sniffing the air. “Lavender and Peach! Thanks, April!” The orange masked turtle took them, rushing to put them into his room.

“Does he need candles?” Leo questioned, walking to stand beside Donnie with Raph on his other side.

“Scented candles can help to soothe the mind and lift one’s mood,” April replied. “I think that Mikey would love them.”

“Uh, Brainiac,” Raph motioned toward the white paper that was slashed with red.

“It’s okay, Raph. Mikey had the urge to cut again, but he did this instead. Using a red marker is better than a blade to his skin.”

With that the youngest returned from his room to find everyone smiling at him, watching as he took the paper and plopped the lid back onto the red sharpie. “Uh, what’s going on?”

“You know it’s been a while since you’ve been topside, so we think that it’s okay for you to come on patrol with us tonight,” Leo said.

“Really?” Mikey gasped, dropping the sharpie. Leo nodded his head in confirmation. “YES!” Mikey leapt up in excitement. It had been so long, he missed the thrill of adventure and being a ninja. “Can we go now?” He bounced excitedly on his feet. His brothers chuckled, Raph slinging an arm around him.

Now that was the Mikey they knew, a little ball of energy and sunshine. The four of them exited the lair, with April and Casey as they headed up to the world up above. Mikey breathed in the fresh air the moment he came out from the manhole cover. Oh how he missed the smell of fresh air.

They all climbed up a building, leaping across the rooftops as Mikey could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He giggled, loving the feel as he twirled. It was then, that Leo commanded them to stop. Mikey knelt down over the edge of the rooftop, peering to see what was occurring down below.

There was Tigerclaw and Fishface talking to Bebop and Rocksteady. Mikey leaned further to try eavesdrop on their conversation. He felt a hand tug onto his bandana tails, forcing him back.

“Careful, Knucklehead,” Raph replied, kneeling down next to the freckled terrapin. He released Mikey’s bandana tails, before placing a hand onto his plastron. Mikey’s eyes were wide as he watched Shredder’s henchmen down below.

“Here’s the plan guys, we need to stop whatever Tigerclaw is doing here with Rocksteady,” Leo unsheathed his katana blades.

“Looks like they’re setting up some kind of device,” Donnie’s eyes narrowed.

“April and Casey the two of you will go after Bebop and Rocksteady. Donnie you will destroy the device, I’ll take on Tigerclaw, Raph and Mikey you take on Fishface.” Everyone nodded, before leaping off the rooftop and taking action.

Mikey swung his nun-chucks whacking Fishface, as the fist mutant sputtered, mouth agape. Raph then used his sais to direct blows at the mutant as he grunted, trying to dodge them. Donnie prodded out the blade of his bo staff, injecting it into the strange device as it cackled with electricity before exploding into pieces.

Mikey threw his kusarigama chain as it smacked Fishface in the face, the fish mutant propelling the chain back, sending Mikey to crash into the wall behind him. At that moment, the fish mutant took the opportunity to escape as did Bebop and Rocksteady who were also getting beat by April and Casey.

“So, you are alive after all,” Mikey lifted his head, groaning as he noticed the tiger mutant glaring down at him. He could see Leo laying on the ground looking as if Tigerclaw had sent him sprawling away. Raph was at Leo’s side, trying to help the leader up. “They brought back the useless turtle,” Tigerclaw sneered.

“Get away from him!” The sharp edge of a blade had pierced Tigerclaw’s paw that loomed over Mikey’s head.

“Donnie!” Mikey gasped, noticing how the purple masked turtle’s eyes were white slits.

“Get away from my little brother!” He retracted the blade from the tiger’s paw, smacking him in the face with his staff. The tiger hissed, stepping back before roaring as he took off into the air, he too also fleeing. “Are you okay?” Donnie was immediately at his side, along with Raph and Leo.

It was as if they had forgotten any else, but their one concern was him. “Yeah, I’m fine dudes,” Mikey replied, taking Leo’s hand to haul him up. The youngest could feel his heart racing inside his plastron. Yet one protruding thought remained.

“Rahzar?” Mikey questioned, eyes full of terror. He remembered the pain, and the wicked laughter of the wolf mutant moments before his own death.

“Don’t worry, little brother,” Raph slung an arm around Mikey’s shoulders. “That bastard ain’t coming back, and we made sure that he won’t.” Mikey’s eyes widened at that statement, gazing at his bros in shock.

“You actually?”

“Yep, he’s dead,” Donnie confirmed.

“No one hurts our baby brother and gets away with it,” Leo squeezed Mikey’s shoulder firmly. Mikey nodded his head, smiling as Leo signified that they should return back to the lair. They had deactivated the device and it was done.

It was then Mikey knew just how far his brothers would go if he were to be injured or even killed by someone. His brothers’ fury would be unleashed and there would be no mercy.

The group had returned to the lair with April and Casey heading off to their homes. His bros asked if he wanted to watch a movie with them and eat pizza. The youngest complied, though stating that he needed a moment in the dojo.

“You sure you’re fine?” Leo gazed at him worriedly. As annoying as their protectiveness was, Mikey nodded his head. He couldn’t blame them. They were only watching out for him.

“I’ll be out, I just want a moment in the dojo is all,” Mikey replied. Leo nodded his head, as Mikey took the cue to leave the main room. He found himself standing in the dojo and gazing at the photographs on the shelf. There were photos of him, along with his bros and…. Master Splinter.

The orange masked turtle smiled, watching as the flames of the candles flickered. It was then, he felt a familiar presence.

“Michelangelo, my son.” Mikey turned, eyes wide as he saw him. Master Splinter was standing there, in his ghost form. He looked the same as when Mikey had seen him last in the afterlife.

“Sensei!” He cried, tearing up as he took a step forward to hug him. Of course, he couldn’t feel him this time since Master Splinter was dead and Mikey wasn’t. “It’s so good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you too, my son,” Master Splinter placed a hand on the top of Mikey’s head. He could feel the warm presence, though the turtle couldn’t feel anything physically. “I’ve been meaning to see you again, and talk to you.”

Mikey tilted his head up, gazing up at his father. He waited for him to continue on before the rat mutant smiled at him.

“My son, I’ve always been proud of you. Your brothers made a wise decision to bring you back to life, to keep you. It wasn’t your time. You still have a life ahead of you. They need you, Michelangelo, and you need them.” Baby blue eyes teared up at this. “Watch over your brothers, for they are always watching over you my son. You are what holds this family together, with your heart of gold,” Master Splinter pointed to where Mikey’s heart would be in his plastron. “Always know that I am watching over you and your brothers.”

Mikey hugged him one last time before Master Splinter’s ghost had dispersed through the thin air. He smiled, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes.

“Mikey?” he felt a hand touch his shoulder. Craning his neck, he saw Raph’s worried expression. Generally the red masked turtle never showed his emotions that often, but lately he had been constantly at Mikey’s side, being there for him.

“I’m good,” he smiled, feeling Raph give him a gentle noogie. He giggled, letting his brother guide him out from the dojo. He was then enveloped into a hug from each of his brothers as Leo opened up the box of pizza.

“Aww yeah! Pizza time!” Mikey cheered, snatching a slice as he nibbled on it. The four of them plopped down into the TV pit as Donnie started the movie. Mikey smiled, leaning back against the beanbag as he could feel Raph’s arm around him. He leaned against the side of Raph’s plastron. The freckled turtle used his other arm to wrap around Leo as Donnie sat behind him, placing a hand onto the top of his head.

“Love you dudes,” Mikey murmured, chewing onto his pepperoni pizza.

“Love you too, little brother.”

“Love you Ototo,” Leo squeezed his shoulder gently.

“Love ya,” Raph rubbed Mikey’s head fondly. For once, the youngest felt at peace alongside his brothers. They all had each other, and there was no way that he would be leaving them anytime soon, nor would they be leaving him. They needed each other, and Mikey felt loved.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey readers! So, this is my new book. I of course couldn't resist writing another TMNT 2012 Mikey centric fic. And this one will be a whole new different take.
> 
> I hope you enjoy! Stay tuned for the next chapter!


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